Actually, interestingly enough that performance *was* supposed to be filmed, but at least 5 dancers who Fateyev wanted in the filmed version are out now, so filming was cancelled. Needless to say the main purpose to film this in my view is to record Lopatkina for generations to come. Sadly the administration is overlooking what is in front of their noses. I agree with you wholeheartedly that as great as the others in the upper ranks may be, they're not in her league. I don't actually know of any other dancers who are!

Cathy, who were the five Fateyev wanted in the filmed version who are now out, and who are not going to London???!

Interesting find by the Bolshoi forum (also called Ballet Friends), which at the moment seems to have more complete day to day coverage of the Mariinsky than the Mariinka (Mariinsky) forum. The Mariinsky Theatre has posted various ballet performances all the way into May of next year! There’s even some cast listings for February.

Another strange anomaly. In the past 10 years the theatre has always closed at some point in late July and there has been at least a 4 week pause in programming while artists (ballet and opera) took annual 1 month leave. This year, August is fully billed with ballets (casting not yet set) such as Giselle, the Fokine program, and LHH (Little Humpbacked Horse) up until the 25th. September's billing starts around the 25th as well, so the one month off is much later than it has been this past decade.

Given the new stage, perhaps it is to maximize the tourists in the theatres, who usually clear out of the city by September.

Hello there everyone. My name's Amy, I'm from Northern Ireland, I'm new to this forum and it's lovely to be here. Like all of you, I am a balletomane and a Mariinsky fan, how do you all do?

I couldn't help notice this message regarding the Mariinsky London tour that starts at the end of the month and Buddy, hello how are you? I can partly answer your question because I know one dancer who's definitely no longer going to London.

And that dancer is Maria Shirinkina; she's actually no longer listed to perform not just in London, but at the Mariinsky Theatre and the reason for her absence from the London tour is not because she's injured... it's because she and her husband, Vladimir Shklyarov are expecting their first child.

Catherine Pawlick asked me to post this for her as the site is having technical issues:

Ms. Pawlick spoke to Kristina Shapran on Sunday, and Shapran is now officially with the Mariinsky Ballet.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

From little I have seen of Shapran on Youtube this does seem potentially good news for Mariinsky...Some question in my mind what changes mean for Mikhailovsky tour to NY--which I have plans to see. (Osipova seems to have double booked herself in London and NY same week; will she be there? Will Shapran still be part of tour? Will others who may have departed for Mariinsky as well? (Ms. Pawlick mentioned Bondareva on Twitter...); What will Assylmuratova's role be with company...?

Catherine Pawlick asked me to post this for her as the site is having technical issues:

Ms. Pawlick spoke to Kristina Shapran on Sunday, and Shapran is now officially with the Mariinsky Ballet.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

From little I have seen of Shapran on Youtube this does seem potentially good news for Mariinsky...Some question in my mind what changes mean for Mikhailovsky tour to NY--which I have plans to see. (Osipova seems to have double booked herself in London and NY same week; will she be there? Will Shapran still be part of tour? Will others who may have departed for Mariinsky as well? (Ms. Pawlick mentioned Bondareva on Twitter...); What will Assylmuratova's role be with company...?

Altynai Asylmuratova is no longer with the Mikhailovsky company and will not be employed by Mariinsky Theatre either.

Hello everyone, I am "new" to this forum but I have followed the posts on this forum for a long time. Thank you for all your posts and reports.

Tiara wrote:

DrewToo wrote:

PenneallaNorma wrote:

Catherine Pawlick asked me to post this for her as the site is having technical issues:

Ms. Pawlick spoke to Kristina Shapran on Sunday, and Shapran is now officially with the Mariinsky Ballet.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

From little I have seen of Shapran on Youtube this does seem potentially good news for Mariinsky...Some question in my mind what changes mean for Mikhailovsky tour to NY--which I have plans to see. (Osipova seems to have double booked herself in London and NY same week; will she be there? Will Shapran still be part of tour? Will others who may have departed for Mariinsky as well? (Ms. Pawlick mentioned Bondareva on Twitter...); What will Assylmuratova's role be with company...?

Altynai Asylmuratova is no longer with the Mikhailovsky company and will not be employed by Mariinsky Theatre either.

This is really sad, for Asylmuratova will make a wonderful coach, if not a competent director of the company. Tiara, do you know where Asylmuratova will be going? And it is also a sad situation for Shapran, who seem to have joint the Mikhailovsky to work with Asylmuratova.

Hi Drew,No, the two that have left the Mikhailovsky won't be on the tour, as they're now with the Mariinsky and already preparing for upcoming performances. Shapran is rehearsing Balanchine with Fateyev and Xander Parish. Bondareva is rehearsing Corsaire with Komleva.

Hi Drew,No, the two that have left the Mikhailovsky won't be on the tour, as they're now with the Mariinsky and already preparing for upcoming performances. Shapran is rehearsing Balanchine with Fateyev and Xander Parish. Bondareva is rehearsing Corsaire with Komleva.

Thank you for responding. Personally I am very disappointed at all the cast changes on Mikhailovsky tour. But I wish Bondareva and Shapran the best...and perhaps one day will get to see them with Mariinsky. (I saw Bondareva about five years ago dancing in the Pas de Trois of Swan Lake with Mikhailovsky--at that time, I found her very much the most appealing of the dancers I saw appearing in "secondary" (non principal) roles with the company.)

I agree, and it is unfortunate for the Mikhailovsky on the eve of a big tour no less...especially since so many of their standard rotation principals are still out on maternity leave (Perren, Borchenko)... Speaks to rather dire straits within it seems.

I have been meaning to post about the performances I saw on my recent trip to St. Petersburg, but I was posting each day to another forum and kept meaning to post here but I figured most people go to both places, so maybe it is redundant. But I will give some of the things that stood out for me.

Yulia Stepanova and Xander Parish are both young, rising stars of the Mariinsky, and they will soon dance Swan Lake in London on August 2, I believe. Well, I enjoyed seeing them in July. Stepanova's acting is amazing for someone new to Odette/Odile. Most ballerinas seem to be good at Odette or Odile, but not both. From an acting standpoint she becomes a totally new person in the black swan scene. Her Odette is scared at first seeing Siegfried. Then, she is sad but as soon as she enters as Odile it is someone who commands the stage. Even her arms become predatory in their movements. Then, in the final act she emits sorrow and despair. The only problem I saw in this performance were the assisted turns which might get better when the two of them eventually get used to working together.

I saw another Swan Lake at the Alexandrinsky Theatre with Svetlana Smirnova, and I was quite pleased to see that this troupe ("The ballet company of the State Academy Ballet Theatre named after Leonid Yacobson") is almost as good as the Mariinsky. Not quite, but almost. It is incredible that even the "lesser" companies in St. Petersburg blow American companies out of the water! The dancing was not always quite as polished as the Mariinsky, but it was pretty good!!!! I would definitely go see this company again. It looked like most dancers had Vaganova training.

This will get too long if I go through everything I saw, but I will mention highlights:

Ulyana Lopatkina was amazing as Marguerite in the premiere of Ashton's Marguerite and Armand. She lived and breathed the role. Even her character's coughs were timed to the music. I only knew this ballet from the Royal Ballet's video of it, and I think Lopatkina was much better than Tamara Rojo. I think Lopatkina is giving her all in the summer of her career.

Tereshkina did a fine job as Marguerite the next night but was not as incisive as Lopatkina. Later on my trip she danced two wonderful Nikiyas spinning like a top at times. She is always a rock solid dancer. Never disappointing. She gave a two terrific performances of Bayadere and she looked confident and at home. As Marguerite earlier in the trip she wasn't as comfortable.

Kolegova was a smiling sylph in Chopiniana one of the nights. Some people complain that she doesn't show emotions. To me she was the epitome of a happy sylph flying through the forest! She had a very playful and infectious smile.

Later on during my trip Kolegova danced Nikiya. I believe it was her debut in the role at the Mariinsky. Someone on another forum said she has performed it elsewhere but to my knowledge this was her first time dancing it on the Mariinsky stage. She did a great job, although I felt some of her acting choices were unorthodox. She was a little too haughty with the priest, for example.

David Zaleyev made a great debut as James in La Sylphide. I hope to see more of him.

The Igor Zelensky Gala was enjoyable. I had only seen Scheherazade on video and thought it was rather boring, but in person it is much more exciting. Polina Semionova guested as Zobeide, and her incredible abs (very muscular) showed she spends a lot of time in the gym. I think her abs looked very different than most Mariinsky dancers. Ultra chiseled and muscular. She did a fine job, although I think Mariinsky dancers are better at this role with their flowing arms. The other half of this gala was Roland Petit's Carmen, and Vishneva gave her all. The curtain calls for Zelensky and Vishneva were endless!!!

Sorry not a whole lot of detail, but I have been meaning to post and now it is so long ago, but I wanted to give a summary of the best things.

Thanks for the above review. More recently I've also seen some very fine and interesting performances.

In the past I’ve compared Oxana Skorik and Olga Smirnova because they both come from a similar ‘Vaganova-Mariinsky’ environment and are both, somewhat in parallel, becoming remarkable stars, perhaps ‘The Stars’ of their generation and beyond. I’ve just seen two Bolshoi Swan Lake performances by Olga Smirnova and it all seems more fascinating. I’ve only viewed her once before live in a very brief performance. Since then I’ve watched her carefully on videos. Based on what I just saw live, in the last half year she has Evolved Exponentially ! She has become an Actress-Expressionist of mind-boggling proportions. In addition her basic Vaganova beauty is still highly evident, but perhaps somewhat more supportive in effect.

I’ve not seen Oxana Skorik since last April, but she appears to be developing remarkably in the other direction. What first fascinated me about her was her overwhelming expressive ability. Now she seems more and more beautifully Subtle and Refined. As outstandingly individual as both artists are, she more resembles a company image. She is pure Mariinsky in her Dreamlike Enchantment and refined loveliness. Olga Smirnova has become a Dramatic Phenomenon. Probably her joining the Bolshoi has greatly influenced this, but she is still very much One of A Kind. Whereas Maya Plisetskaya was a hugely dynamic physical and emotional Bolshoi presence, Olga Smirnova is a psychologically explosive one, encompassing a refined and beautiful deeply grounded foundation.

I think that both women are Incredibly Talented ! Olga Smirnova knocks you over immediately with her power, charisma and brilliance. Oxana Skorik is a quieter force. It will be interesting to see if she gets the immediate recognition for this that Olga Smirnova is getting. I continue to feel that comparing the two is a fascinating journey.

Several other Mariinsky ‘ballerinas’ offer similar and compelling interest. Yekaterina Kondaurova has both. She has beautifully dreamlike refinement and outstanding expressive ability.

Two younger artists are Yulia Stepanova and Alisa Sodoleva. Yulia Stepanova excels in graceful beauty and Alisa Sodoleva has similar loveliness with a touch of expression that adds exciting interest.

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